A Time for Home: A Snowberry Creek Novel (8 page)

Nick laughed. “Maybe some of that combat training you had will come in handy.”

“Don’t think I haven’t considered it. So what’s up, Nick? I’m assuming you didn’t track me down to discuss the joys of being a single parent.”

Nick waited until they were outside to broach the reason he’d sought out Gage in the first place. “I was wondering if you heard any more about Spence’s uncle.”

The lawman’s demeanor changed instantly. “Why? Has there been a problem?”

Nick had to be honest. “Nothing I can prove, but last night my dog acted as if someone had been snooping around the house. I couldn’t find any tracks or anything, but Mooch doesn’t spook easily.”

How much should he share? If he were going to stick around indefinitely, he would’ve waited until he had proof his suspicions were on target. But he couldn’t afford to be that cautious, not when Callie would soon be back on her own. Even if she did adopt Mooch, the dog couldn’t keep her safe all the time.

“I’ve noticed some marks in the carpet that look as if pieces of furniture have been moved. Today Callie noticed a vase is missing. There’s no sign of a break-in, and maybe all of this means nothing at all. I could be jumping at shadows and seeing a threat where one doesn’t really exist.”

“But maybe it does.” Gage tossed the remainder of his drink in a trash can as they walked along. “I’ll ask around and let you know what I find out.”

They’d reached the school parking lot. A little girl broke away from a group of children waiting in a line by the front door of the building. She headed straight for them.

Gage tracked her progress as he scanned the surrounding area. Nick wondered if it was Gage’s police training behind his vigilance or if it was left over from his days in the special forces. It was probably a combination of both with a healthy dose of concerned parent mixed in.

“Thanks for your time, Gage. I didn’t tell Callie I was going to talk to you about this. I didn’t want to worry her unnecessarily without solid evidence. I’m also going to replace all the old locks on Spence’s house with dead bolts before I go.”

Gage nodded in approval. “Good thinking. I’ll make sure my men know to keep an eye on the place. Any idea how long you’ll be staying there?”

“Not yet. I’ll give you a call when I know for sure.”

“Sounds good.”

Gage’s daughter had finally reached them. She gave Nick a quick look before staring up at her father. “You’re late again, Dad.”

The police chief made a show of checking his watch. “Cut me some slack, kid. You only got out of class five minutes ago.”

“True, but that means you owe me a treat. That was the deal.”

Gage stared down at his daughter. “Fine, Syd, but I think we need to set a time limit on this deal. Nothing under fifteen minutes counts.”

She shook her head hard enough to have her braids flying. “Nope. Five minutes.”

“Ten.”

Gage sighed dramatically, but then he grinned at Nick over his daughter’s head when she finally nodded. “She knows how to drive a hard bargain, doesn’t she?”

He tugged on Syd’s braid. “Okay, kiddo. Ten minutes it is. By the way, Sydney, this is Nick Jenkins. He’s doing some work on Callie Redding’s house for her.”

Syd studied him with the same clear blue eyes that her father had. “Nice to meet you, sir.”

“Same here, Syd.” Nick chuckled. “Gage, I see what you mean about being called sir. I think I just aged a good ten years.”

Gage smiled back at him and held out his hand. “Good talking to you again, Nick. Keep me posted on how things go. We’re headed for my folks’ place now, which is in the opposite direction from where we started. We’ll talk again soon.”

Nick nodded his appreciation. “I’ll look forward to it. Now I’d better get back to the house. Daylight’s burning.”

And if he hurried, he might be able to get the rest of that front flower bed weeded and still have time to work on those locks.

A
ustin didn’t make a habit of stopping by Spence’s place too often, so finding out the house was now occupied had come as quite a shock. Who the hell was that guy anyway? Not that it mattered, but Austin was majorly pissed off to learn some stranger had moved into the house. Their house. That was a definite problem, one Austin wasn’t sure how to handle. And having that damn mutt sniffing around the place only complicated things.

At least right now the dog was inside with its owner. If either one of them came outside, he would have to make a fast run for his truck. He’d left it parked a short distance away on the dirt road that ran past the trees in back of the property.

For sure, he couldn’t risk another near miss like last night; the dog had caught his scent when they’d unexpectedly come strolling back from Callie’s place. The last thing he wanted to do was spook them into calling the police.

How was he going to tell his father about all this? The old man was still furious about the terms of Spence’s will. Everyone in town acted like Spence was a big deal for getting himself blown up over in Afghanistan. To Austin’s way of thinking, a real hero took care of his own. Instead, Spence had left everything to Callie.

Personally, Austin had never figured on seeing one penny of money from his cousin, but Vince Locke sure as hell hadn’t seen it that way. As far as the old man was concerned, the two of them should’ve been the rightful owners all along. Blood meant more than a piece of paper that some fancy-pants lawyer wielded like a magic wand to change Spence from a stray into an official member of their family.

Looking back, Austin realized it had taken balls for Spence to call in the police to toss him and his dad out on the street. Sure, he’d offered to let Austin stay on. It had been damn tempting, but Austin couldn’t turn his back on his own father like that.

All water under the bridge now. Now everything belonged to Callie, lock, stock, and barrel. Well, except for a few things Austin figured no one would miss. He’d had his eye on some more, but that plan had just gotten shot all to hell. He couldn’t hang out in these woods around the clock waiting for another chance to slip into the old place unseen.

Between his job and checking in on his old man, Austin didn’t have a lot of time to spare. With the job market like it was, he barely made enough flipping burgers to keep a roof over his own head, not to mention his father in cigarettes and liquor. Austin had considered cutting him off of both cold turkey, but that would only give the old man something else to bitch about.

It was time to get going. He’d told his boss he wouldn’t mind working third shift for a while. The extra money from the shift differential came in handy. As he started to back away, the new tenant stepped out onto the front porch carrying a handful of tools. What was he doing now?

“Oh, hell, I can’t believe it.”

Dollars to dimes he was changing the locks on the doors. Austin had wondered when Callie would get around to doing that. He’d been surprised she hadn’t done so first thing. He certainly would have. Maybe after all these years it wouldn’t have occurred to her that he might still have keys to the place.

He stayed long enough to make sure that was what the bastard was doing. Sure enough, he was busy dismantling the old lock on the door. Well, if he thought that would keep Austin out, he was wrong. There were always other ways to break into a house or sneak out of one. He’d learned every square inch of Spence’s place. It had been a matter of survival.

There was only a five-year difference in age between Austin and Spence, but Austin had spent his whole life with his old man, while his cousin had had to put up with the man only until Spence got old enough to throw them both out. Lucky bastard.

Austin had learned at an early age how to move quietly to avoid drawing the old man’s attention and, worse yet, his temper. Right now, he put that hard-learned skill to work as he slipped back through the trees. On the way to his truck, he wondered about the relationship between the newcomer and Callie. Was that guy simply a tenant? If so, why was he doing all that work on the place? He couldn’t have been there long, but already there were some major changes.

Maybe he was trading labor for rent. If so, it was too bad Austin hadn’t known Callie was open to such an arrangement. He was good with his hands and would’ve been glad to fix the house up in exchange for living there. But considering how much time this new guy was spending over at Callie’s place, maybe he’d also signed on to give her other, more personal services, too. The kind she wouldn’t be interested in receiving from Austin.

Too bad about that. Callie was certainly pretty enough, but she’d always been firmly in the enemy’s camp. Maybe that was a good thing, because it kept him from feeling too guilty about liberating a few things from the house. Tomorrow he had an appointment to meet with another antiques dealer to unload the last few items. He’d used several different dealers from all over the area to keep anyone from asking too many questions about how a man like him had come into so many nice things at once.

He’d pocketed the cash, doling out only a few bucks to his father along with a sad story about how little the items brought. The rest of the money would go into Austin’s secret stash. Once he had enough, he’d be gone for good. He’d planned to drag this out for a while longer in the hopes Callie wouldn’t notice if the odd item went missing now and then.

But now that she’d actually started fixing the house up, time was running out. He’d wait another few days and then make one last shopping trip through the place and call it good.

And if dear old dad didn’t like it, too fucking bad.

•   •   •

Changing the lock was trickier than Nick had expected, which was why it took him so long to realize Mooch was growling again. He tightened the last screw and set the drill back down on the porch. Rocking back on his heels to study his work, he moved slowly, trying not to spook whoever was out there.

Damn, if he’d been back in Afghanistan, a mistake like that could have cost him his life. Reaching into his toolbox, he palmed his sidearm and stood up.

“Get ready, Mooch. Let’s nail the bastard this time.”

The dog stalked down off the porch, his nose in the air as he tested the breeze. Nick waited until his partner made up his mind which way to go before following. They had a better chance of figuring out where their target was hiding if they kept their search low-key. But hunting alone like this, even with Mooch’s help, felt as if he were patrolling the streets back in Afghanistan with a big target pinned to his chest.

Mooch made a sharp right turn toward the woods that ran along the back of the yard. By now, his nose was to the ground as he tracked their prey, while Nick kept his own eyes focused on the trees, looking for some sign of an intruder. Nothing. Evidently Mooch agreed, because he lost all interest in the hunt and wandered back toward the house.

Nick continued to wait and watch. Sure enough, a minute later an engine started with the same ragged sound he’d heard before. It had to be the same guy, making it the second time he’d been caught unawares by him. Well, not again. Tomorrow during the daylight hours, he’d do a little recon now that he knew where the guy had been hiding.

It was tempting to set a trap for him. Nothing fatal, just something that would alert Nick in time to catch the bastard before he had time to escape.

Heading back toward the house, he explained his plans to Mooch.

“Hope you don’t mind a late night, dog. I was going to wait until tomorrow to change the lock on the back door, but not now. We’ll take care of that chore tonight. I’ll sleep a whole lot better knowing it’s done.”

The dog yipped in agreement. Nick laughed. “Yeah, easy for you to say. You’re not the one who has to do all the work.”

Back up on the porch, he gathered up the tools and carried them around to the back door. Hopefully, this one would be easier now that he’d done it once. If not, he had a long night ahead of him.

•   •   •

Callie woke up feeling as tired as when she’d gone to bed, thanks to dark dreams that had left her too frazzled to go back to sleep right away. The details remained murky, but she remembered running through the woods looking for something.

No, not for something, but for someone. Nick.

Great. If that man was going to plague her night thoughts as much as he did her daylight ones, at least the dreams should be steamy and not scary. She wouldn’t mind that at all. He’d kissed her only that one time, but it had been enough to whet her appetite for more. Unfortunately, he’d showed no inclination to indulge in a repeat performance.

He’d offered no explanation as to why he’d backed off, but there were times when she picked up a definite vibe of mutual attraction bouncing between them. It could be as simple as him not wanting to get involved because he wouldn’t be sticking around for long.

But if that were the case, why didn’t he say so? She knew all about the problems involved with short-term dating. Her whole working career had involved a series of moves. It didn’t pay to invest a lot of emotional currency in a relationship when she already knew there was a deadline going in.

And it was way too early to be thinking this hard. Maybe a long run would help shake off the weirdness. After a quick shower, she put on track shorts, a tank top, and her running shoes. After stuffing her keys and some money in her fanny pack, she headed outside.

A few quick stretches later, she set off down the driveway and turned toward town. Her plan was to put in a couple of miles before stopping in Bridey’s shop to pick up some muffins for breakfast. A couple for herself and a few more for Nick. Satisfied with her plan, she cranked up her music and settled into a solid rhythm.

She hadn’t gone more than a quarter of a mile before she picked up a companion. Mooch did a quick circle around her, his tongue hanging out in doggy laughter.

“Listen, dog, I could run faster, too, if I weighed what you do and had four feet instead of two.”

But at the moment, all of Mooch’s attention was focused behind her, and his tail action kicked into high gear. Well, rats. She should have known the dog wouldn’t be out here by himself. There was no reason to slow down to let Nick catch up with her. With those long legs of his, he’d overtake her soon enough.

Sure enough, a few seconds later he passed her before turning around to jog backward, still keeping pace with her. Show-off. She rolled her eyes and kept running.

“Good morning, Callie.”

Not so far. “Good morning, Nick. You’re out and about early this morning.”

“So are you.”

She gave up on listening to her music and pulled off her earbuds and stuffed them in her pack. “I woke up thinking some of Bridey’s muffins would taste good for breakfast. I won’t feel as guilty about eating them if I exercise first.”

He finally turned to run beside her. “That’s where I was headed, too. Mind if I keep you company?”

“Not at all, but you’ll probably get bored at my pace.”

Unless he had a thing for sweaty women. She supposed that was too much to hope for.

“In the army, we learn to adjust our pace to run together no matter what. A squad is only as fast as its slowest man.” He gave her a quick grin. “Or woman.”

The only saving grace was that Mooch made both of them look bad. He’d take off ahead to go exploring and then would come trotting back to see what was taking his silly humans so long.

When he did it for the third time, she asked, “Does he always go exploring when you’re out on a run?”

“Nope, that’s new. Back in Afghanistan, he’d stick right beside us every step of the way. Maybe somehow he’s realized that it’s unlikely that there’s a sniper hiding in the bushes around here, not to mention the chance of triggering an IED is pretty minimal.”

She nearly tripped. What must it have been like for Spence and his friends to live with that kind of threat hanging over their heads twenty-four/seven? It sure explained why Nick’s eyes were never still, always scanning their surroundings for any hint of a threat. That instinct for survival must be nearly impossible to turn off, considering he’d been home for a while now and yet maintained a constant vigil.

At least Nick hadn’t had any more flashbacks around her, but that didn’t mean much. He’d been so embarrassed by hitting the deck when the lawn mower backfired, it was doubtful he would tell her even if he was having problems.

Before they turned the corner onto the main street through town, she was glad when Nick clipped on Mooch’s leash. There wasn’t much in the way of traffic, but it was better to be safe. The coffee shop, Something’s Brewing, was one of the few businesses open this early. Even so, most of the parking spots were taken, a clear testament to the popularity of Bridey’s place.

Nick slowed down to jog in place. “I usually do another two-mile circuit, but we can stop now if you’d rather.”

He hardly sounded winded, the rat. Well, she might not be up for another two laps through town, but she could do one.

“I wouldn’t want to ruin your routine. But I’m warning you, Nick, if Bridey has run out of the peach muffins when we get back, I won’t be happy.”